The First Network Inductee: UPN and Its Treatment of 'Under One Roof'

Since the Reality TV Hall of Shame was introduced, there has had several inductees, including reality show contestants and reality shows themselves. But never has a network made it to the hallowed corridors that make up the Hall of Shame.

Until now.

It is time to recognize UPN for this dubious honor.

Yes, it's hard to induct an entire network, but UPN is going in mainly for one reason – canceling Under One Roof not once, but twice -- and not even telling the viewing audience what the outcome was. Add to this the fact that they ran the entire series of Manhunt, even when the scandal hit that show. (And, yes, an induction is being scheduled for Manhunt itself.)

See, if UPN cancelled its show, that would be probably not be worthy of a mention. Shows get cancelled all the time. But what UPN did was worse than that. First, they cancelled it after only two episodes due to poor ratings earlier in the year. People were left wondering who won the house. Ah, but then it came back in the summer. UPN re-aired the first two episodes. They aired the new third episode. And then… it was replaced by some other programming. Did they issue a press statement saying the show had been yanked once again, after three episodes? No. Calls made to their headquarters in Manhattan resulted in going from assistant to assistant to hang up. Nor did email sent to UPN, or to Viacom, their parent company, get a response. Nothing. Nada.

It should also be noted that the geniuses at UPN put this reality show up against two other reality shows -- Mole 2 and American Idol, and the latter was, of course, the smash hit of the summer! Yet UPN punished Under One Roof for not managing to eke out enough ratings points.

RealityNewsOnline received dozens of e-mails from people who wanted to know what happened. Could UPN, not exactly a ratings giant, actually have taken off this show in the summer due to poor ratings? After only one new episode? Could they really be leaving us in the lurch yet again, with absolutely no hope of ever finding out what happened? And could they really be doing this after allowing Manhunt to remain on the air?!

Yes.

But nothing was done, nothing was in any of the wires that we saw. And even on the show’s website, there was no hint that it had been cancelled.

It's like this show never was, and this is a shame. As reality shows go, this show was entertaining fluff. Take five families and stick them on an island in Fiji. Have them compete for a dream house. One of the families was definitely psycho, so you have plenty of potential for interesting conflict. But, no, UPN decided it was not to be.

Rumor on the street has it that the house has not been awarded to the winning family. It also seems that the families have been muzzled. They were quite willing to talk and then, when the show was cancelled, they suddenly stopped responding to e-mails and posting on message boards - this after one family member (or at least somebody claiming to be a family member) released the name of the winners.

So let's review: UPN broadcasts Manhunt last year and they cancel Under one Roof not once, but twice.

Is whatever rerun UPN has replaced Under One Roof with really getting better ratings? Does UPN realize that they have alienated their audience? We just want them to bring the show back so myself and the other viewers would know who won the dang house. What happened to the other families? Which families leave, which stay? Do the Skofields ever make up with the McRaes? Do the Hatmakers get out of the tree house?

ABC cancelled The Mole 2 during the Fall, but brought it back as a summer series. It didn't bring in stellar ratings at first, but it ended on a high note and they are actually having a third series plus a celebrity edition.

So please, UPN, consider bringing the show back. There are a lot of fans who really do want to watch. And we'd even reconsider your place in the Hall of Shame.

Susan can be reached at sschechter@earthlink.net. David can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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